Under The Rose
by i like dirt
Summary: Valerie moves to a small hick town called Kiwi in search of a new life. While establishing herself amongst the deiversity of the quaint new town, she makes friends with some truly kooky animals and locks lips with a local human.


**A/N: **hola, my first fic. lemme know what you think.  
it switches general 3rd person POV between 2 main characters.

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girl.

Val scowled, stepping down off the train platform, leaving behind that psychotic cat as fast as possible. What is it with people on trains? They're so damn weird. Of course Val had a house. She didn't quite know the full details or have time to scope the place out first, but she had a house.

The thick blanket of snow coating the ground, stretching as far as the eye can see in the small town of Kiwi, was very romantic looking indeed with the sun slumping lower still under the horizon. But it more than pissed Val off because gracious amounts of it were freezing off the toes sticking out of her striped flip-flops.

Digging around in the main compartment of her messenger bag, Val shuffled through the ankle-deep snow towards the small cluster of houses up ahead in the town square. Once her fingers clasped around a small set of keys, Val jammed them into the right door and burst into her new home.

"Here I am. Home sweet... closet," Valerie grumbled, dropping her luggage onto the floor and flicking on the lights. The shabby little apartment looked even smaller in the light.

Realizing this new house of hers was neither properly furnished nor properly heated, she scowled some more, and hugged the shabby black hoodie tighter to her chest.

"Fucking Raccoon I talked to on the phone said there was fucking furniture. I paid 18,000 up front for this shit?" Val kicked the small orange crate in the corner, overturning the structure and scattering the small diary atop it.

Sitting indian style in front of the ancient radio perched in the other corner of the room, Val twisted and turned the knobs, hearing only static and greatly missing the amazing 24-hour hardcore station she'd blast back home.

Home? _Pah_. What a joke.

This was her home now.

Shivers running the length of her body again, Val began to swore outwardly. She looked hopelessly out the window and her gaze settled upon her next door neighbors house. The lights were all flicked on, illuminating both floors of the rather roomy looking abode.

"Fuck this, he probably has blankets or _something_," Val rolled her eyes, rising up from the dusty floor and slipping into her shoes on before trekking out the front door.

boy.

_Knock knock knock._

Adrian raised his eyebrows, peering at the front door from over the dirt bike magazine held loosely in his hands. Now who would come 'round at this time of night?

But the knocking persisted, getting a little louder this time. "Alright, I'm coming," he called out with a fainy British accent, tossing the paper aside and crossing the room. _If it's that bloody cat Tangy trying to buy my leather couch, I swear I'm going to set her straight this time..._

"Hi. Do I know you?" Adrian asked impatiently, doing a once-over of the girl standing at the threshold of his house. She wasn't a familiar face, and her raggy, mismatched clothes and beach shoes made her look like quite a mess.

"I'm your new neighbor. Thanks for the lavish greetings," Val replied just as icily, pushing past him to enter the house. "Nice place. Got any blankets and shit in here? I'm freezing my ass off next door."

"So... What you're saying is you just moved here and you didn't decide to pack anything from home?" he inquired, eyeing the girl strangely as she plopped down on his squishy, blue couch.

Val eyed the living room, taking in all the fine details of his nicely arranged furniture, all colored blue down to the walls and carpeting. She looked up at him, nodding. "Pretty much seems like it, huh."

"There's a spare bedroom in the basement, I guess I could pull bedding off there if you're _that_ desperate,"Adrian replied after a few moments of disbelief.

"The advertisement on my house said that it was 'furnished with necessities'. Well, that was bullshit," clarified Valerie, using her middle and index fingers for the quote marks. He noted her stubby fingernails, and their chipping purple paint.

"Alright. Whatever." Shaking his head, Adrian descended down the small wooden staircase.

Coming back up a couple minutes later to find the girl in the same exact place he'd left her, Adrian cleared his throat and spoke, "Here. Blankets. And a spare space heater. Anything else you want? Maybe a few bells and a footrub?"

"No thanks," Val grinned wildly. "Hey, maybe I'll even return the favor one day when I'm not dirt poor and living in a shithole apartment smack in the middle of a hick town," she quipped, taking the bedding he held out to her.

And then she got right up, and headed for the door.

"Wait up," Adrian called out, striding across the room to stand by her side. "Sorry for being rude. It's just, I forgot my manners after living amongst animals all these years."

A hint of a smile spread across Val's features, as she looked him right in his silvery colored eyes. "Forgiven." she held up the bundle of items a little higher. "More than forgiven."

And she strode out the doorway.

"Cheerio," Adrian sadi softly, locking the door after her. He turned up the volume on his stereo system and returned to his recliner.

girl.

Grumbling loudly and letting out a string of swear words, Val swatted at the alarm clock buzzing just next to her ear. Fingers finally connecting with the snooze button, Val sighed with relief and snuggled deeper into her blankets. Rolling over, she sighed again.

A few more minutes passed before the sunlight streaming through the unfurnished windows finally urged Val to give up the hope of sleeping in, anyway. She sat up, rumpling her short shock of untidy red hair. "Time to find a job," she said to no one in particular, crawling across the squeaky floorboards towards her suitcase.

It took Valerie about 10 minutes to find clothes that looked the slightest bit presentable, and to slip into a pair of socks that matched. On her way out the door, Val slipped her feet into some Vans. Frostbite on her toes was quite avoidable, she decided.

Kiwi wasn't quite as chilly during the daytime hours. Warm rays of sunlight beat down on the ground, melting away the excess snow that littered the poorly shoveled walkways. Val tugged a map out of her bag, tracing her finger along the closest route to get to Tom Nooks rickety old shop, apparently the only commerce in this hellhole, as well as the only job opportunity Val could think of.

Strolling through a small meadow, Val saw a quaint little cottage. Inside the open window, a blue elephant was watering a small garden of herbs that were sitting in the sill. He didn't even notice Val as she trudged by.

Next door on the base of a small hill, a purple ostrich sat on a lawn chair in front of her house, bearing an extremely snooty expression.

"I've never seen you around here, chicken!" commented the ostrich as Val approached, a hint of disgust crossing her features as she studied Val's choice of clothing, ripped jeans and a black t-shirt.

"I'm new," replied Valerie as pleasantly as she could muster. This chick smelled so strongly of designer perfume, it made her lightheaded. "Just moved into a place in the square."

"Ooh near the bulletin board! This town's gossip is practically in your lap, chicken!" squealed the ostrich, jumping up from her seat. "I'm Queenie, by the way."

"Val," the human countered, nodding her head. "Well I kinda have to get going... Nook's shop is this way, right?" Valerie pointed ahead.

"Oh yes, yes, it is indeed. Heading for some new fashions, huh?" Queenie winked.

"Nope. A job," replied Val, raising her eyebrows. "See you around."

And she hoofed it away.

On her way through a small meadow, Val plucked a fuzzy peach off of a tree. It was ripe, and peculiarly out of season. Sinking her teeth into the fruit, Val approached a little chipmunk who was just leaning against an adjacent tree, as if waiting there.

"Like, hi nutlet! you must be Valerie! Queenie rang me and gave me the 411 on you! Boy was she right about the hair! You look like funny indeed!" the chipmunk gushed.

"Well, you're a talking squirrel," Val said, sighing.

"CHIPMUNK, nutlet," she replied pleasantly. "I go by Pecan, actually."

"Pleasure, I'm sure," Valerie replied exasperatedly. "I'm actually heading to the shop now, so I'll see you another time..."

"Wait! Come by for coffee sometime! I want to gossip with you for a little bit, nutlet," Pecan grinned. "You seem very out of the lopp!" Val rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'll stop by," she replied unconvincingly, bypassing Pecan to continue en route to Nook's shop.

"Ah, it's you Valerie. I thought you were supposed to move in last night," the elderly raccoon bustled around his shop, restocking an empty shelf with flower seeds. "How do you like Kiwi so far?"

"Kiwi is a rather chilly place to be named after a tropical fruit," replied Val dryly. "And my 'luxury condo'... well, falls short of my expectations."

"Of course it's cold girl, it's December! What is it with you humans and your silly pop culture t-shirts?" Nook scoffed, ignoring the complaints about her lodgings.

"Excuse me, _Drop Dead, Gorgeous_ is hardly pop culture. And the problem here is my house! I paid 18,000 bells for a shack?" Val rose her voice slightly, throwing up her hands with frustration.

Nook tutted. "Well it's a starter home. You want an upgrade, you pay me. That's how it works, see, eh?"

I- oh, screw it. Okay, how much do I owe you for an expansion?" Val crossed her arms across her chest.

"180,000 for a starters," Nook replied calmly. "But, of course, you can pay it off in time if you'd like."

Val's eyebrows immediately shot up at the price, but she sighed defeatedly, "Whatever, we'll do things however it is you do them around here. I really came here to ask about a job."

"Job, huh?" Nook asked, ceasing his bustling to look Valerie in the eye. "I'm actually not really hiring."

"Well this appears to be the only place in town where bells are exchanged, besides the bank, but they only hire birds," Val replied lamely.

"I feel bad about your dilemma, so I guess I can take you on as a temporary apprentice. Until you get some feet under you and find other ways to make money," Nook compromised, smiling tiredly. "Now, apprentice, put on this work uniform and take out the trash. I'll pay you 50 bells for such a task."

boy.

"Bollocks, I have all the fours," Adrian said to Bob, reaching out to flip over the top card on the deck. A ten.

"Eat cards, bunny!" giggled Coco, watching Bob grumble and collect the pile. "I'm having fun. I've never played this before," she said.

"Yeah, thanks for inviting us," said Adrian, leaning back in Bob's sleek, black leather couch. The red chicken grinned despite his newly gained disadvantage.

Bob tossed an old pair of socks into the pile of assorted rubbish and bells in the middle of the table. "I told you guys, we're going to play cards. right here. Every Tuesday. I'm so pumped!"

"One five. I won," Coco grinned, throwing down her last card. "I think."

"Bullshit, cracker!" spat Bob, checking the top card. It was indeed a five.

"I think you cheat," declared Adrian, watching the little white bunny stuff all of the collateral into the pockets of her green striped dress. "That's three games in a row!"

"I did some feng sui on my house yesterday. I think it's paying off in the luck department," grinned Coco in reply. "Now if I win the next game I'll never be able to bring all this loot home with me, bunny!"

"I think I'm done," replied Adrian, rising from his seat. "I wanted to do a spot of fishing before I call it a night."

"Okay Coco, you and me, one more game of Old Maid!" cheered Bob, collecting all the cards and beginning to shuffle the deck. "I'll get you yet, cracker!"

Adrian let himself out of the house as Coco took on shuffling duties and Bob scrambled around for more trinkets and loose change to bet with.

Finding a nice spot at the end of a nearby pier, Adrian tossed his line into the ocean, the little floater bobbing up and down with the gentle currents, and he waited to land the big one.

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**A/N:** reviews would be really helpful :)  



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